Customer Success Story
Indiana blazes trails with 400G connectivity to Internet2
Data limits shouldn’t be a gating factor in education, scientific research, or other advances for the public good. In Indiana, they are not: As Internet2 moved to 400G, the state’s research and education community was among the first to access eye-popping capacity.
The GlobalNOC at Indiana University, which operates the both Indiana GigaPOP as well as I-Light, the state’s research and education networks, turned up 400G connectivity to Internet2 using Juniper networking.
400G
Networking for Indiana’s education, research, and public-sector organizations
1998
Indiana GigaPOP established to bring advanced connectivity to the state’s research and education community
Accelerate scientific collaboration
“Our goal for 400G is to support research and education institutions throughout the country,” says Tom Johnson, CTO of I-Light and the Indiana GigaPOP.
After years of planning and implementation during extraordinary times, the Next-Generation Infrastructure (NGI) of Internet2 became operational in January 2022, delivering up to 32 Tbps of capacity on each segment and with a significantly greener footprint.
As it prepared for the national migration to 400G, the GlobalNOC team wanted to strengthen the resiliency, capacity, and efficiency of the Indiana GigaPOP and I-Light networks.
A smooth migration to 400G
A 400G backbone not only meant more scalable capacity but also increased network resilience for the Indiana GigaPOP. The team established diverse fiber paths connecting its Chicago and Indianapolis locations and then upgraded its existing routers, giving Indiana GigaPOP the ability to offer higher-speed network services to its members.
To make the move to 400G, Indiana GigaPOP refreshed its Juniper MX240 Universal Routing Platforms with new MPC line cards. The compact MX240 routers address space and power limitations, without sacrificing reliability and features.
Juniper 400G solutions are built to last. An in-place upgrade, rather than a forklift replacement, allowed the team to maintain its engineering and operational expertise and maximize its existing capital investment.
Advancing knowledge and serving the public good
“The more bandwidth people have, the more they find ways to use it,” says Johnson.
Migrating to 400G removes bandwidth as a limiting factor. The Indiana GigaPOP is prepared for the demands of big science, as researchers share massive data sets to advance understanding of genomics, climate change, and cancer. Scientists will be able to peer farther into the origins of the universe when the more powerful Large Hadron Collider starts back up in 2024.
400G can level the playing field between small local colleges and big research universities, providing equitable access to high-performance compute resources and ease of collaboration with peers. K-12 school students have crystal-clear video and access to the latest digital learning tools. State agencies and non-profits have fast, affordable broadband.
“Our core value is to do as much as we can for our members,” says Johnson. “We’re a high-touch, customer-focused organization, and we’re part of the research and education community we serve.”
The Products
With a robust portfolio of SDN-enabled routers, the MX Series provides industry-leading system capacity, density, security, and performance with unparalleled longevity.
Published April 2022